Tuesday, July 15, 2014

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Why YA (or Middle Grade) fiction? What draws you to it?

I’ve always loved writing about schools because I enjoyed my school years immensely: the teachers
(most of them), the camaraderie, and the activities like drama, newspaper, and the literary magazine. I
switched from Catholic to public school in the eleventh grade, and that opened up a whole new world to
me.

I loved my school days so much that I became a high school teacher, and later a department head
and disciplinarian, in the Philadelphia city high schools. There’s always something exciting going on in
schools, and that excitement brought me a great sense of fulfillment in life. Every day brought new
challenges, and it excited me to meet them.

I set Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser: A Book About Bullying in a city school because I wanted to write
about issues and themes I knew about. I love talking to kids and listening to their problems. I have to
say that throughout the years they taught me more than I could ever teach them.

Pretend your protagonist is at school and opens his/her locker – what will we see inside?

You’ll find these things inside Elliot’s locker: a musical score for “Man of La Mancha,” the play he’s
auditioning for; a tattered book of poems he bought at a library book sale; a scrawled note on the back
of a 3/5 card to Rosalie, the girl he has his eye on, asking her to go to a movie; ticket stubs from the
basketball game he attended with his best friends, Roy and LeBron; and a curt note from Nonna, his
grandmother, to clean up his room, “pronto buster,” or be grounded.

What books were your favorite as a youth and why?

I’ve always loved Shakespeare’s plays, especially the tragedies. I also enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye
because it delved deeply into the psychology of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Reading that book
brought home the importance of looking deeply into a character before fleshing out the person on
paper. People want to know what’s going on in characters’ heads and hearts.

Most of all, I loved poetry and still do. I love reading Pablo Neruda and Cummings for the rhythm in their
poetry. I believe that poetic language should permeate all kinds of writing, even fiction and non-fiction
books. I feel that people want writing to sound pleasant and melodious to the ear, no matter what kind
of writing it is.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?

I wanted to be a writer from the time I was a small child. I also pretended I was a teacher and had an
imaginary class that I’d regale with poems and stories. I remember reading my stories in installments to
my friends on the school bus.

I started out majoring in radio/tv, but then decided to go into teaching. It’s a good thing because back
in the day there were hardly any women broadcasters. However, all along I kept my dream of becoming
a writer in mind. Throughout the years, when I was working and raising my children, I had little time to
write. However, I began by taking small steps. I wrote “Guest Opinion” columns for my local paper and
then wrote a few magazine articles.

When I retired from teaching, I worked as a student teaching supervisor and finally found more time
to write. My first book was a study guide for the works of YA author, Cynthia Voigt. Then I went on to
write many books on the topics of bullying and language arts. Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser is my
first venture in self-publishing except for a girls’ prayer book that I received the rights back for. All of my
other books are traditionally published. I’ve found that there are advantages and disadvantages to both
types of publishing.

What superpower would you love to have? Why?

I would like to improve my psychic ability. I love studying metaphysics and am an experienced Tarot card
reader and also enjoy psychometry (gaining information by handling objects). These modalities give me
insights into people and help me understand the world around me better. I read every book I can find on
this topic and recently found The Afterlife of Billy Fingers a fascinating read. Before that I read My Son
and the Afterlife, written by a medical doctor and an atheist before she had this experience talking with
her son through channelers.

Sum up your book for Twitter: 140 characters or less.

Elliot K. Carnucci faces non-stop bullying, including a brutal head-dunk in the toilet, by a few ruthless
classmates. Will he buckle under the pressure or fight back to come out a winner? Read this wild story
with quirky characters to find out.

Ideal summer vacation?

All my life I’ve loved the Jersey shore. My family and I made weekly trips there when I was a child. I love
the ocean, the boardwalk, the sound of the gulls, and the wonderful food (Crab Trap, Smitty’s Clam
Bar, for instance). I feel more alive and joyful at the shore and would live there all year if I could. Many
years ago we bought a condo in Ocean City and love to go there whenever we can. I will never tire of
the Jersey Shore. One of my favorite poems is Sea Fever by John Masefield: “I must go down to the seas
again, to the lonely sea and the sky...”

Which of your characters would you most like to meet? Why?

I’d most like to meet Elliot, but then, I feel like I’ve already known him in a past life. Maybe he was a
long lost son. He’s a deep-thinking kid who is vulnerable in some ways, but he definitely knows what he
wants and tries his best to get it. I like the fact that he’s not afraid to express his opinions even if they
rub someone the wrong way. He’s never rude, but he’s always honest, especially with his dad, mom, and
grandmother, Nonna, who is “a piece of work.”

I have already met Elliot’s friend and mentor, Walker Boardly. I knew the man the character was based
on when I taught at Lincoln High School in Philadelphia. Scotty was a custodian whom the entire school
community befriended and loved. Like Mr. Boardly, he would do anything to help students and staff
alike. Once he waited with me in an empty school building until my husband came to pick me up even
though his work day was long over. Tragically, he died while crossing a highway because of his disabled
vehicle. I felt that including him in my novel was a way of honoring his memory. I will never forget him.

What four literary characters would you most like to have over for dinner?
I’d like to meet my favorite character of all time, Holden Caulfied, from The Catcher in the Rye. He’s
bold, brassy, and brazen and talks like a fresh kid, but I love him for his honesty and total innocence in
the face of evil in our world.

I’d also love to meet Janie, the protagonist Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. She’s bright,
beautiful, and courageous, and makes you want to read on. Of course, I’d like to dine with “The Bard of
Avon,” Shakespeare. I’d ask him how he found his endless ideas for his captivating plays. I’d also love
to meet Amy, the wife in the story Gone Girl. I’d ask her what really happened at the end of the book
because although I enjoyed most of the story, the end was a real downer and left me hanging.

You’re stranded on a desert island—which character from your book do you want with you? Why?
I want Nonna, the grandmother, because she’s a wild and wooly like me. We’d have a lot to talk about
when the lights out: her plumber boyfriend with a ridiculous walrus mustache; her concerns about
Elliot’s bouts with bullying; her annoyance with her funeral director son who’s always bugging her to do
some dirty work around the parlor like styling the dead bodies’ hair; and her outrage over the divorce
between her ex daughter-in-law Rayna and her son. Nonna and I could talk for hours way into the night,
probably because the old girl is my alter-ego.

The kids at Ralph Bunche Middle School love to pick on Elliot Kravitz-Carnucci. He struggles
with his weight, looks like a geek, makes top honors, and lives above the Carnucci Home
for Funerals in South Philadelphia with his distant, workaholic father and Nonna, his quirky,
overbearing grandmother.

Since his parents divorced, he splits spending his time with his funeral director father and his
mother Rayna, who dreams of becoming the queen of commercials on the west coast.

At the hands of his peers, Elliot experiences a series of bullying episodes that escalate from
entrapment in a school supply closet to a brutal “swirly” (head dunk in the toilet) that lands him
in the hospital emergency room.

Elliot has a small circle of loyal friends and a mentor named Duke, an aging school custodian,
who root for him to overcome his bullying issues so that he can enjoy his life as a teenager and
a budding singer/performer. Can Elliot win his fight against the nasty bullies, or is he doomed
forever? Read this funny, sad, and crazy book to find out.

“Help–I can’t breathe–let me out. Somebody help...”I pounded the inside of the musty supply closet until my knuckles turned blue. Did anybody even
have the key?What if they don’t come? What if I’m trapped here all night?I could hear loud voices and laughing, so I knew Kyle Canfield and one of his friends from the
basketball team were there, waiting to see if I would cave in and plead for mercy.The bell blared. Classes changed. Kids stampeded through the halls. Then, silence.
Finally I heard someone shout, “I’ve got the key, Doc.” “Thanks, Duke,” Doc Greely, the assistant principal, said to Mr. Boardly, the man who’d sprung
me loose.Mr. Boardly, the head custodian, better known as Duke, offered me his arm, and I stumbled out
of the closet. He was as thin as his mop handle, but all muscle–no flab like me. A scruffy white
beard covered half his face.He slammed the closet door shut and bolted the lock. “One of the hall guards reported noise
coming from this area. We came as soon as we heard.”Duke patted my shoulder. “Let me know if I can help, Elliot.” I could hear his keys clanging as he
walked down the hall humming “Duke of Earl,” that old sixties song he loved. That’s where he
got his nickname.“Up to their old tricks again, Elliot?” Doc asked on the way to his office.

Catherine DePino has sold thirteen books for parents, teachers, and children to mainstream
publishers. She self-published her fourteenth book, Elliot K. Carnucci is a Big, Fat Loser: A
Book About Bullying because she wanted to give it a wider forum.

Her background includes
a BS in English and Spanish education, a Master’s in English education, and a doctorate in
Curriculum Theory and Development and Educational Administration from Temple University.
The author worked for many years as an English teacher, department head of English and world
languages, disciplinarian, and curriculum writer in the Philadelphia School District.

After this,
she worked at Temple as an adjunct assistant professor and student teaching supervisor.
Catherine has also written articles for national magazines, including The Christian Science
Monitor and The Writer.
For many years she served on the board of The Philadelphia Writers’ Conference. She holds
membership in the Association of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Her new self-help book, 101 Easy Ways for Women to De-Stress, Reinvent, and Fire Up Your
Life in Retirement,appeared on the market in March, 2014.